Youth coach Vince Overson with reaction to the Hull City game
Youth coach Vince Overson spoke to us about the 4-1 Youth Alliance Cup victory over Hull City last weekend.
“It was a good day for the lads,” he said. “They probably needed it for their confidence with the way the result and game before this one had gone.
“From a coaching point of view it’s always about the performance rather than the result. They certainly produced what we wanted to see and it was 90 minutes of football I really enjoyed watching.”
“The last couple of weeks have shown the lads the highs and lows of football, there’s no doubt about that,” he added. “We keep going on about consistency so it can be frustrating when you get such a bad performance one week and an excellent performance just seven days later.
“What we have to remember is that these lads are young. It’s down to us to educate them to make sure we get more out of them, which then helps to bring that consistency we like to see.”
“We had a game plan for this one and we kept the instructions really simple and easy,” he explained. “In all honesty they got on with it really well, stuck to what they’d been told to do, and that got them the win they wanted from it. It was nice to see.
“I was really chuffed for the lads because you could see the confidence come back as the game went on. A big defeat really hurts the younger lads, particularly the first years, so the way they went about getting this win meant a lot to them.
“What we keep reminding them is that it’s all about the individual. We worked on things that went wrong in the Walsall game all week and we took it back to basics for them. We asked them all to improve on a personal basis, so it was rewarding to see the difference it made to them when Saturday came round.
“What we can’t do is give them the belief that they can go out there and do the job. They have to believe in themselves or it’s never going to happen. They all had that against Hull and the confidence we saw came off the back of that.”
“We’re starting to get the message through to them that it’s about their own mindset,” he commented. “If they give us a good individual performance then it will benefit the team. If everyone in the team achieves a solid individual performance then they are going to be a very good side. In this game we got 11 good individual performances and we will only ever be happy with that, win, lose or draw.
“Again, it was one where I watched the game unfold and I could see bits and pieces we’d worked on come together for us. We had players looking to do the right thing and, even when it didn’t come off, they were trying it again until it did work. As we say to them, the only way to master something is to do it over and over until it becomes second nature. That comes down to having confidence in what you’re doing. They’re making mistakes but they’re learning from them, so it bodes well for the group.”
“It will now be interesting to see what they give us at Oldham on Saturday,” he said. “They have to be consistent in training and they have to take that into the games every week.
“That has to happen whether it’s a cup game or a league game. We’ve tweaked a few things through the week and hopefully that will improve things even more. It’s a slow process, getting them to where we want them to be, and everyone has to be patient at the same time as continuing to demand high standards. The good thing about all of these lads is that they all want to learn and improve. That’s half the battle won already.”
“We’ve been drawn against Port Vale in the next round and that’s a long trip for the lads,” he added. “That’s all part of being a footballer. They have to get used to travelling and to being able to put in a performance when they get to wherever they’re going. There’s no avoiding it so you just have to get on with it.”
And on the events at the club earlier in the week, he said: “I think the young lads are affected by the kind of thing that happened to Graham [Kavanagh] in the same way as everyone else at the club is.
“He was very well respected within the club and he was very passionate about youth football. These things happen and we now have to get on with our jobs. I think Kav would be disappointed with us if we didn’t get our heads down and get on with things, despite what’s happened. We’ve got a good group here, as I keep saying, and I’m sure they’ll cope and make sure they move on positively.”
United – Fowler, Hurley, Elliott, Robson, Taylor, Marshall, Moyes, Hammell, Blackburn, Quigley, Rudd. Subs – Eccles, Pearson, Bradbury, McCue, Whitehead.
Goals – Hammell (2), Rudd (2)
Next up – Oldham v United, Saturday 6 September, kick off 11am
